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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

We'll leave the light on for you . . . or not

When I was kid we didn't travel much. Our vacations were either camping trips or staying with family members.

So, when the rare occasion arose where we would be staying at a motel/hotel it was a really REALLY big deal . . . an adventure, a luxury.

Mind you, we didn't stay a 4 or 5 star hotels. Holiday Inn was as top of the line as we went and Comfort Inn was the norm. It didn't matter . . . Cable television! Game room! Swimming Pool! HOT TUB! It doesn't sound like it should be that exciting, I know. But trust me it was.

Come to think of it, coming across the scrambled adult television channel may have been my first experience with pornography . . . oh joy.

Anyhoo . . . as fun and wonderful as it all was it didn't make us (the kids) angelic guests. For the most part we behaved ourselves but all that excitement seemed to have brought some prankishness to the surface.

Besides the typical swiping of the towels, soaps and whatnot . . . we dare not touch the minibar or Mom would open a can of whoop-ass on us . . . we had fun roaming the hallways and making a general nuisance of ourselves.

Of course, there was the ever popular knock-and-run game. But, that wears a little thin after a while . . . especially, as we got older. One thing that never seemed to grow old no matter how often we did it was when we found the mini-moos and condiment packets left outside of random doors for room service to retrieve.

What's so fun about that? Well, what we did was stomp on them. The contents . . . whether it was milk, ketchup, mustard or mayo . . . would squirt all over the walls and carpeting.

The bigger the spatter, the higher splat the more points. We didn't have and actually scoring structure established and we didn't keep tally . . . it was more on a case by case basis . . . or smoosh but smoosh, as it were.

Yeah . . . we were hicks, we were lame but we had fun.

Ukrainian Red Borscht Soup

1 (16 Ounce) Package Pork Sausage

3 Medium Beets, Peeled And Shredded

3 Carrots, Peeled And Shredded

3 Medium Baking Potatoes, Peeled And Cubed

1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil

1 Medium Onion, Chopped

1 (6 Ounce) Can Tomato Paste

3/4 Cup Water

1/2 Medium Head Cabbage, Cored And Shredded

1 (8 Ounce) Can Diced Tomatoes, Drained

3 Cloves Garlic, Minced

Salt And Pepper To Taste

1 Teaspoon White Sugar, Or To Taste

1/2 Cup Sour Cream, For Topping

Crumble the sausage into a skillet over medium-high heat.
Cook and stir until no longer pink. Remove from the heat and put in large soup
pot.

Fill the pot halfway with water (about 2 quarts), and bring
to a boil.

Add the beets, carrots and potatoes, and cook until tender,
about 15 minutes. Add the cabbage, and the can of diced tomatoes.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion,
and cook until tender. Stir in the tomato paste and water until well blended.
Transfer to the pot.

Add the raw garlic to the soup, cover and turn off the heat.
Let stand for 5 minutes. Taste, and season with salt, pepper and sugar.

Ladle into serving bowls, and garnish with sour cream and
fresh parsley.